"Damn it—!!"
A furious roar shattered the silence of the Raikage's office. The Fourth Raikage, Ay—a burly giant in a white robe and a straw hat—slammed his fist down.
Boom!!
The heavy solid wood desk instantly splintered under the terrifying force, wood chips flew, and papers scattered like snowflakes across the floor. Unfaded Lightning Release Chakra crackled around his fist, arcs of electricity jumping in the air, revealing the owner's uncontrollable rage.
Completely wiped out... even an elite Jonin like Zurui...
Ay's chest heaved violently, veins bulging in his temples, but soon, he took a deep breath, forcing himself to calm down.
Now was not the time for venting. As Raikage, he had to prioritize handling the aftermath.
He slowly withdrew his fist. "Have the families of the casualties all been accounted for?"
Mabui, his secretary, was long accustomed to the Raikage's temper. She calmly opened the file in her hand. "All have been accounted for. Besides the suicide squad, the compensation for the twenty-seven Cloud Ninja who died in the envoy mission has also been calculated and can be disbursed at any time."
Ay nodded, his gaze dark as he looked out the window.
Twenty-seven elites... this debt, he would definitely reclaim.
He suddenly remembered something and turned to ask, "How is Raki I doing?"
He was the only Cloud Ninja who returned alive, and the sole witness to the entire incident. Mabui's expression shifted slightly, her gaze complex.
"Chunin Raki I has already gone to the Ninja Archives to apply for the cancellation of his ninja registration number."
"According to the medical team's psychological evaluation report... the overwhelming strength displayed by the 'Masked Man' mentioned in the intelligence seems to have caused him severe psychological trauma. I'm afraid... he can no longer continue to perform ninja missions."
"Also, the messenger bird sent to Konoha has departed and is expected to reach the Land of Fire border within two days."
Mabui's finger lightly traced the timetable on the document. "Lord Bee and Lady Yugito have already received the news—during the period when Lord Raikage travels to the Land of Fire, if the village is attacked, the two Jinchuriki will jointly defend it."
"The specific arrangement is: Lady Yugito will be responsible for commanding the Cloud Ninja, while Lord Bee will be stationed in the Cloud Gorge, ready to intercept powerful enemies with a Tailed Beast Ball at any time."
Ay's Lightning Release Chakra uncontrollably coursed over his body, emitting faint crackling sounds.
"Mm, good!"
"Since that Masked Man, who hides his face, dared to provoke Kumogakure, and even specifically demanded that I go find him—"
"Then I will personally go to the Land of Fire and drag that bastard out of his rat hole!!"
Before his words finished, Ay had already turned decisively, waving his large hand—"Depart now! Let's go! C! Darui!"
Inside the office, two elite ninja who had been waiting immediately responded. The sensory ninja C stood upright, answering respectfully and crisply.
"Yes!"
On the other side, the Storm Release ninja Darui scratched his messy white hair, lazily drawing out his words.
"Okay~"
"Keep up!"
Ay didn't wait for the two to react, directly darting towards the window—Bang! Boom!!
The glass instantly shattered under the Raikage's brute force, countless sparkling fragments glinting in the sunlight. Ay's figure had already transformed into a flash of lightning, leaping down from the Raikage Building.
C followed without hesitation, his figure vanishing from the broken window in a flash.
Darui slowly walked to the window, looking at the dust rising below, and sighed. "Ah... another long trip, what a pain... never mind, I'll just use the main entrance."
Inside the office, Mabui looked at the mess on the floor, helplessly holding her forehead and sighing. "Oh... here we go again."
She skillfully opened her notepad and added new content under the 'Raikage's Office Damage Record' column: Today's Damage: Solid wood desk, tempered explosion-proof window. Clearly, she was long accustomed to such sudden occurrences.
— — — — — —
Land of Fire, Konoha Village.
After the Kumogakure envoy team left, Konoha outwardly returned to its usual calm.
Although the villagers were indignant about Kumogakure's despicable actions, since the higher-ups had already compromised, ordinary people could only swallow their dissatisfaction and continue their daily lives. After all, complaining changed nothing.
The only noticeable change was the atmosphere within the Hyuga Clan.
Inside the main house, the clan head, Hyuga Hiashi, whose expression was already stern, looked even gloomier than usual.
And in the branch family's courtyard, four-year-old Neji Hyuga was already crying his eyes out.
"Father... where is Father...?"
Little Neji's swollen eyes were filled with confusion and fear. No one told him the truth, but a child's intuition vaguely made him realize—the figure who had been by his side since his earliest memories would never return.
No one expected that two days later, the calm news would once again be shattered by a boulder.
"Have you heard?! The Kumogakure convoy was attacked!"
"That Hyuga ninja was abducted!"
The news spread like wildfire, instantly igniting all of Konoha.
It was rumored that the Kumogakure envoy team, on their way back to the Land of Lightning, was attacked by a mysterious ninja.
A black-robed man wearing a fox mask.
He single-handedly annihilated the Kumogakure elites.
He abducted the Hyuga clansman, who was accused of "killing the envoy," on the spot.
Even more shocking was that the culprit openly declared before leaving:
"I've taken the power of the Byakugan."
"If you want it back, have the Raikage come to the Land of Fire to find me."
At first, most Konoha Ninja, upon hearing this news, couldn't help but clap their hands in delight. The long-suppressed indignation finally found an outlet.
However, this brief moment of satisfaction was quickly extinguished by new news.
Kumogakure publicly questioned. The Masked Man was a Konoha Ninja. Konoha outwardly compromised, but secretly abducted someone, intending to harbor the culprit.
If the culprit and the Masked Man were not handed over, Kumogakure would declare war.
The Konoha Ninja instantly erupted.
"Are you kidding?! They were the ones who kidnapped the Hyuga Clan first, weren't they?!"
"Now they're turning the tables? Does Kumogakure have any shame left?!"
Waves of anger swept through the entire village, but beneath this clamor, a deeper unease began to spread. This was the fear of war.
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